Expression and degeneration of tenascin-C in human lung cancers.
Tenascin-C is an extracellular matrix glycoprotein produced in response to epithelial-mesenchymal interactions during organogenesis and tissue remodelling. It has therefore been proposed as a stromal marker for epithelial malignancy. To test this hypothesis, 30 human lung cancers, presenting a variety of clinicopathological features, and six specimens of normal tissue were examined by Western and Northern blotting of tenascin-C protein and mRNA. The results obtained were: (1) elevated tenascin-C expression was detected in all 30 cases by Western blotting, with mRNA increase in 22 of them; (2) mRNA for a large isoform of tenascin-C, including an alternatively spliced sequence, was expressed in lung cancer tissues but not in normal lungs; and (3) metastasis to lymph nodes was frequently found in cases whose tenascin-C was degraded into small fragments. These results suggest that tenascin-C degradation can be used as a marker for metastatic potential of a tumour.
Kusagawa
H
H
Laboratory of Thoracic Surgery, Mie University School of Medicine, Tsu, Japan.
Onoda
K
K
Namikawa
S
S
Yada
I
I
Okada
A
A
Yoshida
T
T
Sakakura
T
T
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000556:secondary; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000556:secondary; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism*; D019063:Tenascin / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*
D012333:RNA, Messenger; D019063:Tenascin